Welcome To The Family
by cpdfan4
Summary: Linstead Thanksgiving one-shot! Please read the author's note & review :) xo


_Hi loves! SO I'm on break with minimal schoolwork until next Sunday, which means updates! Except I don't know what story to update, so PLEASE let me know your thoughts – do you guys want I Owed You One or All In updates or new one shots (if you want OS give me plots pls)? Leave a comment on here or on a story you want updated or shoot me a message so I get an idea of where to go with everything, I love hearing from you guys! Here's a lil one shot while I get my act together :) xo_

"Earth to Erin," Erin jumped as a crumpled piece of paper hit her in the shoulder and shot a death glare at her boyfriend who was now laughing at her from his desk across the room.

"What?" she snapped, picking up the paper and throwing it back across the bullpen, hitting Jay square in the forehead and earning a laugh from Ruzek. Jay tried to act annoyed but couldn't hold back his smile as he nodded his head towards the break room in an unspoken question. She nodded back and stood up, making her way into the small room as Jay followed.

"Are you okay?" he asked the second the door was shut behind them. "You've been a million miles away all day."

"I'm fine, Jay," Erin sighed as she moved to the coffee pot and poured herself a mug of the steaming liquid. "Do you want some?"

"No," Jay followed her across the room, trapping her between the counter and his body. "I want you to tell me what's bothering you."

Erin sighed as she put her mug down on the counter behind her and turned around to face him. "It's nothing… it' stupid." She focused on the small scar on Jay's neck, avoiding eye contact.

"Tell me anyway," Jay pressed gently, bringing a hand to her chin and forcing her to look into his eyes.

"Jay…" she sighed again, momentarily getting lost in his clear blue eyes that currently held nothing but love and concern for her.

"Erin…" Jay mimicked, a sure sign that he was not letting this go.

"Fine," she took a deep breath before continuing. "What if your family doesn't like me tomorrow? You guys are such a picture perfect family and now you're going to bring in this barely-keeping-it-together ex-junkie and-"

"Woah," Jay interrupted her, lost for words. "Babe. They're going to love you."

"How do you know?" Erin asked quietly, her eyes glazing over with tears. She silently cursed herself for getting into this in the workplace. If Hank came out of his office any time soon he was going to have a conniption.

"Because I love you." Jay glanced back over his shoulder into the bullpen where everyone seemed to be focused on their paperwork for once, and took the opportunity to press his lips against Erin's. "I love you so much, Er. And I wish you wouldn't think of yourself like that. My parents are going to be in awe that I found such a strong, amazing, beautiful woman like you. My dad will probably even joke and ask you how much I'm paying you to come with me."

Erin buried her head in Jay's chest and hugged him tight. "Thank you," she mumbled into his shirt. "I needed to hear that."

Jay rested his chin on her head as he hugged her back. "It's the truth, babe. Now let's go finish our paperwork so we can get out of here, okay?"

Erin pulled away and nodded. She leaned up on her tiptoes to press a kiss against her boyfriend's lips before moving to leave the room. "I love you, too," she smiled back at him as she opened the door to the bullpen and made her way back over to her desk.

An hour later, Voight emerged from his office. "You can all leave after you finished your paperwork. Enjoy your Thanksgivings and the long weekend and I'll see you all back in here on Monday," he addressed his team.

Having already finished her pile, Erin stood up and followed Hank back into his office. "Are you all packed?" she asked, taking the seat across from her pseudo-father's desk.

"Of course," Hank smiled one of his rare, true smiles. "Don't wanna be late to see Daniel."

Erin couldn't help but smile back. "I'm really happy Olive invited you to Arizona for the holiday."

"Me too, kid." Hank looked down at his phone to check the time. "I gotta get going, I picked up an earlier flight. Want as much time with the kid as possible." He stood from his desk and walked around to the other side to envelope Erin in a hug. "Have a good Thanksgiving."

Erin felt a wave of emotions overtake her as she realized that this was the first holiday she wouldn't be spending at the Voight household since she was sixteen as she hugged Hank back. "I'm excited to spend it with Jay's family," she said honestly. Change was scary, but it was good.

"I'm happy for you, kid." Hank broke the hug and moved to open his office door. "I'll see you Monday."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Jay!" Erin called from the bathroom as she pulled a dark red velvet dress over her head.

"Yeah?" he yelled back and she soon heard his footsteps approaching the door. When he reached the doorway, Erin watched his eyes widen through his reflection in the mirror. "Shit, Er. You're beautiful."

Erin felt her cheeks redden as she backed up towards him. "Can you zip this?" Jay moved closer to her and zipped the back of the dress up, causing chills to run up Erin's spine. Once the dress was secure, she turned in his arms to fuse their lips together. "Have I told you how thankful I am for you?" she asked sincerely, her face still inches from his as he held her waist tightly.

"Not nearly as thankful as I am for you," he promised her, bending down to steal another kiss.

Erin smiled up at him as their kiss broke. "Even after I make a fool out of myself today?"

"You're gonna be fine," Jay told her for what seemed like the thousandth time in the last 24 hours.

"Let's make a bet. Dinner at the Purple Pig is on you when I say the wrong thing, or spill wine everywhere, or-"

"None of that is going to happen but I'll buy you dinner anyway." Jay couldn't help but laugh at her. "Are you ready?"

Erin rolled her eyes at his confidence and turned around to look in the mirror again. She fixed her lipstick and brushed a strand of curly hair behind her ear before nodding.

"Well then let's go make my family fall in love with you, beautiful." Jay reached for her hand and led her out of the bathroom and out of their apartment. "I'm driving." Erin reluctantly got into the passenger seat and Jay reached over to grab her hand again once he began to drive.

A half hour later, they pulled up to a cute little house on the outskirts of the city. "This is it," Jay announced as he pulled the car into the driveway. 

Erin took a deep breath as she got out of the car. She knew she was being irrational; anyone who had raised Jay could not possibly be anything but nice. But she had never been the "bring home to meet mom" kind of girl and she had definitely never spent a holiday with a significant other's family.

"Hey," Jay met her on her side of the car and tugged her hand towards the front door. "They're going to like you better than they like me in about 20 minutes." He winked as he led them up the front porch steps and knocked on the door.

"No key?" she joked.

"There's my girl," Jay smiled, dropping a kiss into her hair as the front door opened.

"Jay!" An older woman answered and as Erin caught sight of her bright blue eyes there was no doubt that was his mother. She enveloped him in a hug but quickly broke away to look at Erin. "You must be Erin! I've heard so much about you!"

Erin smiled politely. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Halstead," she stuck her arm out for a handshake but was quickly pulled into a bear hug.

"Nonsense, call me Janet!" The woman smiled warmly at Erin as she pulled away. "Jay wasn't kidding, you are beautiful."

Erin felt her cheeks redden and looked to her left to see Jay's cheeks an equal shade of red. "Thank you for having me," Erin smiled, brushing off the compliment but making a mental note to tease Jay about it later.

"Well, of course! Come on in!" Janet moved out of the doorway to allow the two detectives to enter. Jay led them into the kitchen, where an older man was standing over the stove.

"Hey dad," Jay walked over, giving the older man a pat on the back.

"Jay!" His father turned away from the stove to engulf him in a hug, just as his mom had done moments earlier. Erin couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"There's someone I want you to meet," Jay said as he pulled away, motioning over to Erin who was standing awkwardly behind them. "This is my girlfriend, Erin."

"Erin!" Mr. Halstead exclaimed, moving over to give her an equally big hug. "Jay, what did I tell you about hiring models to bring to family dinners?"

Jay just shook his head and held in a laugh as Erin shot him a knowing look, both of their minds going back to their conversation in the break room from the previous day.

"Thank you for having me, Mr. Halstead. It's so nice to finally meet you," Erin smiled as she pulled away, taking in the older man's graying hair and blue eyes equally as gorgeous as his wife's and Jay's.

"Please, call me Robert. I'm glad you could make it," he smiled at Erin before moving back over to the stove. "Will is in the living room watching the Bears game. Amanda should be here any minute now." Robert informed them.

"Come on, I'll show you the living room," Jay placed a hand on the small of Erin's back and led her out of the kitchen. "I told you they'd love you," he whispered to Erin as they walked down the hallway.

"Oh please, we just met." Erin laughed but couldn't help but feel warm and comfortable in Jay's childhood home. They turned the corner and walked into the living room, where Will was sprawled out on the couch watching football.

"Hey, lovebirds!" Will greeted them.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Will," Erin smiled as Jay led her over to the opposite couch and sat down, pulling her into him. Erin rested her head on Jay's shoulder as everyone in the room focused back on the football game until the doorbell rang.

"That must be Manda!" Will said, eyes lighting up at the mention of the little sister neither Halstead boy saw often anymore since she went to college out of state.

Erin shifted her weight off of Jay to allow him to go and greet his sister. He stood up then turned around and looked at Erin, confused. "Come on, I want you to meet her."

"You haven't seen her in a year. Go catch up, I'll be here when you're done." Erin smiled.

"Er, come on. I want her to meet my beautiful girlfriend. You're kinda the most important development in my life over the past year, ya know." Erin rolled her eyes as she stood up but couldn't help the smile that overtook her lips. Last Thanksgiving, she and Jay had barely been back together a month, so she'd gone to Hank's for dinner and he'd come to his parent's house, then they'd met up that night. This year was so different, and as much as that scared Erin, she absolutely loved it.

Erin followed Jay and Will back down the long hallway and into the kitchen, where a tiny blonde girl was hugging their parents. She stood back while the boys said their hello's, then Jay motioned for her to join them. "Amanda, this is my girlfriend Erin. Erin, my sister Amanda."

"It's so nice to finally meet you!" Amanda gushed, scanning the detective. "You're like twenty times prettier in person than the pictures on Jay's Facebook, which is crazy because I already thought you were so gorgeous from those pictures."

Erin couldn't help but laugh as she felt her cheeks blushing. "It's nice to meet you too. I love your dress,"

"No, I love your dress! That's such a pretty color! And oh my god, is that velvet!?" the younger girl reached out to touch the sleeve of Erin's dress.

"Ooookay, Mands. Are you trying to steal my girl?" Jay laughed, throwing an arm around Erin's shoulders. Erin felt butterflies in her stomach, just like she did every time Jay called her "his girl". It'd probably been hundreds of times throughout the past year, but every time felt like the first.

Amanda rolled her eyes at her older brother. "Oh come on, you gush about her waaay more than that,"

"Oh do you?" Erin teased, looking up at Jay with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh my god, I can't even talk to him on the phone anymore. It's Erin this, Erin that, do you know what Erin did during our bust today?" Amanda continued, earning a glare from her oldest brother.

Erin couldn't help but burst out laughing. "You're such a dork," she spit out between chuckles, smiling up lovingly at her boyfriend whose arm was still wrapped around her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go. Sounds like the Bears scored another touchdown," Jay offered, eager to get out of the kitchen and change the subject.

"Dinner will be ready in about a half hour, kids," Janet called from the other side of the kitchen.

"Thanks ma!" Will called before leading the group back into the living room, arms laden with bottles of beer for everyone.

Jay and Erin resumed their spot on the couch while Amanda sat down on the other couch next to Will. Jay was focused back on the game on TV, while Erin took a sip from her beer bottle and studied his face. He was so handsome. Just looking at him, her heart began to swell because she loved him so damn much. She loved everything about him – his blue eyes, his personality, his determination, his dark past – and now his family. It was unreal how welcoming they'd been already today and they hadn't even eaten dinner yet.

She was broken from her thoughts when Jay turned his head away from the TV and focused his attention on her. "What are you thinking?" he whispered quietly, trying not to catch his sibling's attention.

Erin shook her head. "Nothing," she whispered back, a small smile on her lips. "Just that I love you."

Jay smiled and pulled her closer. "I love you more,"

Suddenly, a pillow was flying through the air and landed at Jay's feet. "Would you two get a room? I'm gonna lose my appetite before we even eat dinner," Will whined, earning a slap on the arm from Amanda.

Before Jay could rebut, Robert's voice rang through the house. "Kids! Dinner!" Will and Amanda nearly ran out of the room and Jay took advantage of the alone time to press his lips to Erin's. "See? Not so bad,"

Erin smiled and leaned in for one more quick kiss. "I don't know if they like me better than you, but I might like them better than I like you," she winked as Jay's jaw dropped in mock-rejection before he took her hand and walked her into the dining room.

Erin sat between Jay and Amanda, who much to Jay's dismay made a perfect tag-team. He hadn't brought a girl home in so long, not since Allie Corson, and he'd forgotten how many embarrassing stories his mother and Will liked to share. Erin was eating it up, he was pretty sure she hadn't stopped laughing throughout the entire meal. As much as he wanted to pretend to be annoyed, he couldn't be happier with how well Erin fit into his family. He'd never had any doubt about it, but seeing the way his mom lit up when talking to her and his dad's obvious approval, not to mention Amanda's obsession with her, made his heart soar.

"Did Jay ever tell you that he failed his driver's test three times?" Will asked as his mom was cutting up pies for dessert.

"No. Way." Erin's jaw dropped and her eyes sparkled as she looked at Jay next to her. "And you wonder why I never let you drive!?"

"Will," Jay groaned. He was never going to be allowed to touch the steering wheel of the 300 again at this point.

"Okay, Will, Amanda," Jay's mom said through her own chuckles. "Enough picking on your brother for one meal. Erin, tell us about yourself."

Erin felt her heart drop as the conversation turned to what she'd been trying to avoid all day. She felt Jay's hand squeeze her knee reassuringly under the table as she took a deep breath. "Um, I grew up in Chicago. South side. I graduated from St. Ignatius and went into the police academy straight out of high school. CPD has been my life ever since," she shrugged, looking to Jay for approval. He smiled at her proudly and she felt him squeeze her knee once more.

"That's so awesome. I wish I was as badass as you," Amanda gushed.

Erin smiled. "You are. You're going to school to be a teacher. That's hard work,"

"I guess," Amanda shrugged.

"My best friend Annie is a kindergarten teacher. She loves it, but it's hard. She's a superhero, really," Erin smiled encouragingly.

"Teaching kindergarten is my dream!" Amanda sighed. "I keep getting my student teaching hours at a middle school. I'm so sick of snobby older kids."

"How long are you in Chicago?" Erin asked.

"Only til Saturday. But I'm coming home for like a month around Christmas."

"Do you want me to ask Annie if you can volunteer in her classroom? I know she's always looking for help," Erin suggested, taking a sip of wine.

"Oh my god, you would do that!?" Amanda freaked out, beaming at Erin in excitement.

"Of course," Erin smiled back. It really was no big deal. And it clearly meant a lot to Amanda, which probably meant a lot to Jay, which definitely meant a lot to Erin.

"Thank you so much!" Amanda shot up from her seat and hugged Erin, who couldn't help but laugh. She looked at Jay over Amanda's shoulder and he was beaming at her, making her heart swell all over again.

"Thank you, Erin," Janet smiled at her once Amanda sat back down.

"It's really no problem at all," Erin smiled back, then the conversation moved on to Amanda's schooling, Will's recent shifts at the hospital, the weather, and everything in between. Before they knew it, it was time to go.

Amanda and Erin helped Janet clean the kitchen while the boys and their father went into the living room to watch another football game. Once everything was put away, Erin went into the living room and sat down next to Jay.

"Ready to go?" He asked her through a yawn.

Erin nodded, standing back up as the family moved into the kitchen to say their goodbyes.

"It was so nice to meet you. You guys have to come over more often!" Janet smiled as she gave Erin a tight hug.

"I'd like that," Erin answered honestly, before pulling away and switching her attention to watch Jay and his dad.

"She's a keeper, son," the elder Halstead whispered into his son's ear.

"Don't I know it," Jay beamed back, giving his father a hug before turning around to look at Erin.

"Thank you again," Erin said to everyone, meaning it sincerely. She'd never felt so accepted into a group since, well, ever. The Halsteads made her feel like she'd spent every Thanksgiving together with them.

"Thank you for making our boy happy, Erin," Robert smiled sincerely. "I don't remember the last time I've seen him smile like this," Amanda, Will, and Janet nodded in agreement.

Erin just looked at Jay, at a loss for words. He made her the happiest human on the planet and it made her heart soar that for some crazy reason, people thought she did the same for him.

Jay just smiled the mega-watt smile his family was talking about as he threw an arm around Erin's shoulder to lead her to the door. "We'll see you guys soon," he waved back at his family as they exited into the cool Chicago night.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Later that night, Erin lay curled into Jay on the couch while the final football game of the day played on the TV in their apartment. During a commercial, she lifted her head from his chest and looked up at him. "Did they really mean it?" she asked quietly.

"Mean what?" Jay looked down at her, confused.

"When your family said they'd never seen you so happy."

Jay couldn't help but smile down at her. "Oh, 100%," he dropped a kiss into her hair. "Because I've never been so happy."

Erin smiled equally as wide. "Yeah?" Jay nodded. "Me too."

"I love you, Er. And they loved you. I've never seen Amanda open up like that to anyone. And I didn't want to tell you this before, but my mom has always been judgmental of the girls I bring home. But she told me tonight that you were perfect for me and the reason she had to be judgmental of other girls was because she was waiting for perfection. And apparently I found it."

"Are you serious?" Erin asked, her jaw nearly dropping. Her name and perfect had never been used in the same sentence, most definitely not by a parent.

"I am. Welcome to the family, my love," Jay craned his neck so his lips met hers.

"This was the perfect Thanksgiving," Erin mumbled against his lips once they finally parted. She hadn't had such a good holiday in as long as she could remember. Never with Bunny. There had been a few with the Voight's before Camille passed away, but she still felt like an outsider of the family sometimes. And once Camille died, forget it, there was always a dark cloud hanging over the celebration.

"It was," Jay agreed, placing a kiss on her forehead and maneuvering himself so he was laying horizontal on the couch and Erin was sprawled out on top of him.

"I want our kids to feel like this after every holiday. To feel loved. Like they have somewhere they belong." Erin admitted.

Jay felt his heartbeat quicken. Had Erin Lindsay, the girl who basically defined commitment-phobia, just mentioned children? "Our kids, huh?" he asked, tightening his hold around her body.

He felt her laugh. "Yes, you dork. I'm not saying right now, or any time in the near future. But one day."

Jay smiled so hard his cheeks hurt for the hundredth time that day. "Oh, definitely."


End file.
